Mekhi Thira Phifer (born December 29, 1974) is an American actor. He is perhaps best known for his multi-year role as Dr. Greg Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER and his co-starring role opposite Eminem in the feature film 8 Mile. He was a regular on the Fox crime show Lie to Me portraying the role of Ben Reynolds, before season 3. He was born in in Harlem, New York City, the son of Rhoda Phifer, a high school teacher; he grew up in a single-parent household with his mother. His acting career began in 1995, when Phifer attended an open casting call for director Spike Lee’s Clockers, beating over a thousand others to get the lead role as a narcotics dealer embroiled in a murder cover-up. He followed that role with another in the comedy spoof feature High School High (which also starred his former wife Malinda Williams) and continued by co-starring in the fright flick I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. Among Phifer’s other big-screen credits are Soul Food, The Biography of Spud Webb, Hell’s Kitchen, NYC, Tears of a Clown, O (as the titular character Odin a.k.a. O), and the thriller Uninvited Guest (as Silk). He appeared in Impostor as well as Paid in Full, 8 Mile, opposite Eminem and Dawn of the Dead. Phifer has a son, Omikaye, with his ex-wife, actress Malinda Williams. His second son, Mekhi Thira Phifer Jr., was born to his girlfriend Oni Souratha in Los Angeles on October 30, 2007.

Filmography

• 2026Be Happy — Peter Mosley
• 2026Mary J. Blige Presents Be Happy — Peter Mosley
• 2025Labyrinth
• High Potential — Arthur Ellis
• 2024Lights Out — Max Bomer, Co-Executive Producer
• 2024Long Gone Heroes — Moreao
• 2024The Silent Hour — Mason Lynch
• 2024The Supremes at Earl's All-You-Can-Eat — James Henry
• Love, Victor — Harold Brooks
• 2019Canal Street — Prosecutor A.J. Canton
• 2019Obsession — Sonny
• Truth Be Told — Markus Killebrew
• 2018A Talent For Trouble — Mekhi Phifer
• The Bobby Brown Story — Tommy Brown
• 2016Allegiant — Max
• 2016Chocolate City: Vegas Strip — Best Valentine
• Frequency — Satch Reyna
• 2016Pandemic — Gunner
• Roots — Jerusalem
• Secret City — Ambassador Moreton
• 2015Insurgent — Max
• 2014A Day Late and a Dollar Short — Lewis
• Chicago P.D. — Joe Baker
• 2014Divergent — Max
• 2013The Love Section — James Johnson
• 2013The Suspect — The Suspect
• House of Lies — Dre Collins
• Key & Peele — Cousin
• 2011Flypaper — Darrien
• 2011Last Man Standing — Jeremy Davis
• 2009A Day in the Life — King Khi
• Lie to Me — Ben Reynolds
• White Collar — Kyle Collins
• 2008Nora's Hair Salon II: A Cut Above — Maxwell Terry, Production Artist
• 2007This Christmas — Gerald
• Psych — Drake
• 2006Puff, Puff, Pass — Big Daddy, Director, Producer
• Torchwood — Rex Matheson
• 2005Slow Burn — Isaac Duperde
• Best Week Ever
• 2004Dawn of the Dead — Andre
• 2003Honey — Chaz
• 20028 Mile — Future
• 2002Paid in Full — Mitch
• 2002The Other Brother — Martin
• 2001Brian's Song — Gale Sayers
• 2001Carmen: A Hip Hopera — Hill
• 2001Impostor — Cale
• 2001O — Odin James
• Curb Your Enthusiasm — Omar Jones
• 2000Shaft — Trey Howard
• 1999A Lesson Before Dying — Jefferson
• 1999Uninvited Guest — Silk
• 1998Hell's Kitchen — Johnny Miles
• 1998I Still Know What You Did Last Summer — Tyrell
• 1997Hav Plenty — Harold
• 1997Soul Food — Lem
• 1997Subway Stories — Man in Hallway (segment "Fern's Heart of Darkness")
• 1996High School High — Griff McReynolds
• 1995Clockers — Ronald 'Strike' Dunham
• 1995The Tuskegee Airmen — Lewis Johns
• ER — Greg Pratt
• New York Undercover — Sekou
• Homicide: Life on the Street — Nathaniel Lee 'Junior Bunk' Mahoney
• Law & Order — Lyman Ross
• Hollow Moon — Captain Josh Briley
• Marx — Axel Marx

Appearances as themselves (16)

• Celebrity Weakest Link — Self - Contestant
• Match Game — Self - Panelist
• Beat Bobby Flay — Self
• Hollywood Game Night — Self
• Black Poker Stars Invitational — Self – Guest, Self – Player
• On Air with Ryan Seacrest — Self
• Jimmy Kimmel Live! — Self
• Punk'd — Self
• The Ellen DeGeneres Show — Self
• 2003The Making of '8 Mile' — Self
• 2002NBC 75th Anniversary Special — Self
• The View — Self
• 1996Girl 6 — Self (uncredited)
• The Daily Show — Self
• Late Night with Conan O'Brien — Self - Guest
• Miss USA — Self - Judge